Carpet display rack

ABSTRACT

A rack for hanging room sized carpets in show rooms. The rack has a plurality of uprights, each of which has a horizontal arm supporting a hanging carpet. The arm is adapted to be raised and lowered by a flexible drive member such as a cable or belt entrained on a motor-driven pulley and moved by a gear drive type motor. The flexible drive member or belt and motor-driven pulley are mounted on the rack.

This application is a Continuation In Part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/085,117 now Pub. No. 2006/0131249 filed Mar. 22, 2005.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to display racks and more particularly toimprovements in display racks for hanging room sized carpets.

It is desirable to have carpets hanging in such a manner in order that anumber of carpets can be viewed without moving a large number ofcarpets. However, raising the carpets to a hanging position can not bedone conveniently without proper equipment and furthermore, customersmay request that the hanging carpet be spread horizontally. It isdesirable therefore, that a sales person be provided with a motorizedrack to conveniently raise and lower any carpet with a minimum ofeffort.

Attempts to provide display racks of this type include applicant's U.S.Pat. No. 5,292,011 which discloses a winch and cable system and U.S.Pat. No. 2,000,336, which discloses a horizontal carpet support raisedby pulling a rope. Other prior attempts include those disclosed in U.S.Pat. No. 3,187,900, W. Schneider; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,330,418, W.Schneider.

It is considered desirable therefore, to provide a display rack havingsingle display rack arms, which will be capable of being driven byindividual motors.

A still further consideration is that of minimizing damage to expensivecarpets by exposed moving parts such as cables.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a display rack secured in anupright position for hanging carpets. The rack comprises an uprightsupport member, an arm assembly including a horizontal member, and adiagonal brace for movement from a lowered position to an upper storageposition. The horizontal member has an upper support roller bearing on aside of the upright support; a lower support roller on an end of thediagonal brace bearing on a side of the support opposite from the uppersupport roller and a drive winch on the upright tubular member whereby aflexible member on the drive winch extends over a pulley on the armassembly and has an end secured to an upper end of the support.

Another embodiment of the invention comprises an upright support member,an arm assembly including a horizontal member, and a diagonal brace formovement from a lowered position to an upper storage position. Thehorizontal member has an upper support roller bearing on a side of theupright support; a lower support roller on an end of the diagonal bracebearing on a side of the support opposite from the upper support rollerand a winch on the upright tubular member whereby a flexible belt memberwound on a drive pulley of the worm drive winch has an end secured tothe arm assembly and the flexible member has indentations to cooperatewith teeth on the drive pulley.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the display rack of thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view an arm assembly of the invention ofFIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view partly in section of the motor andgear mechanism and

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the motor and winch of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of an arm assembly showing the motorand gear mechanism mounted at a lower end of a vertical support memberof the rack,

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of an armassembly; and

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of a motor and gear mechanism of FIG.6

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now in detail to the drawings in which the numeral 10generally denotes a carpet display rack, the rack 10 has a supportingassembly 12 including posts 14 having bottom plates 18. The posts 14 arealso provided with adjustable top plates 22 secured in the adjustedposition by set screws 26.

A lower channel plate 30 has spaced apart apertures 32 and a top plate34 of right angle cross section which has apertures 38 verticallyaligned with the apertures 32 of the lower plate 30. Vertical supportmembers 40 (one of which is shown) have upper and lower pins 44 and 46adapted to be received in the apertures 34 and 32 respectively forpivotal movement. The pin 44 carries a slideable collar 50 adjustable bymeans of set screw 52.

An arm assembly 60 adapted to move vertically on the upright channelmember 40, includes a horizontal member 60 and a diagonal brace 64. Anassociated end 62 of the arm 60 has spaced apart plates 65 to engage theupright tubular member 40, and a roller 70 mounted at the end of thehorizontal member 60 engages the other side of the tubular member 40.The lower end of the brace 64 is also provided with spaced plates 66 toreceive a roller 74 bearing against the adjacent side of the tubularmember 40. A roller 86 is also mounted between the plates 65 on thehorizontal member 60 adjacent the upright member 40. As illustrated inFIG. 3, a toothed belt 90 extends over a similarly toothed drum 92 of awinch 94 and has its end 93 looped over fastening means 85 on thehorizontal member 60 adjacent the roller 86. The toothed belt 90 ispreferably polyurethane combined with a tension member of braided steelsold under the name Breco Flex.

The pairs of spaced apart plates 65 and 66 are preferably joined orintegrally formed. A nylon roller 100 is provided on the outer end ofeach arm assembly 60, although means for attaching a carpet to thehorizontal member 62 does not form part of this invention, a carpet clip110, as shown in FIG. 1 grips an upper edge of the carpet. The clip 110is the subject of another patent application by this inventor.

The gear mechanism 94 is of the type referred to as worm gear and mesheswith a gear 124 for rotating the drive pulley drum 92. An electric motor130 is secured to the shaft 120 to facilitate turning the shaft. Asuitable motor is manufactured under the trade name Nema. The worm gearoperates at a 50:1 drive ratio and moves a 250 lb load through a 9 fttravel in approximately 37 seconds. The worm gear winch is self-brakingso that the winch drum cannot accidentally run free.

As illustrated in FIG. 5 the drum 92 of the winch 94 is mounted on alower end of the frame member 40. The toothed belt 90 has its end 93looped over fastening means 85 on the horizontal member 60 the belt 90then extends over a pulley 200 on an upper end of the upright member 40and extends over the toothed drum 92 of the winch 94 and has an end 93secured to a lower end of the frame 60.

It will be noted that the input shaft of the winch 94 is positioned atabout an angle of 30 degrees with respect to the upright frame membersso that a portable electric motor 131 can be attached to the winch 94associated with a selected arm assembly 60. The drive pulleys of thewinch 94 may be interchanged for use with either belts, chains or cablewrap systems. Furthermore, mounting of the housing 95 as shown in FIG. 5is also adapted for use in top mounting of the winch 94 as shown in FIG.3. In place of the cordless motor 131 a modified electric motor 130 maybe provided for use with the winch 54 shown in FIG. 5. The motor 130 canbe provided with coupling means (not shown) and an extension cord or asource of power adjacent each arm assembly.

In use the arm assembly 60 can be raised and lowered, the belt 90 havingbeen correctly installed on the drum 92. The carpet (not shown) is thensecured to the arm assembly 60 through the use of clips 110 and the armassembly is raised by the electric motor 130 or 131 to wind belt 90 onthe drum 92. It will be appreciated that if the operator stops the powerunit for any reason before fully raising or lowering the arm assembly60, the drive means cannot run free due to the provision of theself-braking winch gear mechanism 94

As illustrated in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 a flexible drive member 201 such asa cable, extends over a pulley 265 to the drum 202 where it terminates,The flexible drive member 201 is fastened to the drum 202 so that theflexible drive member 201 is wrapped around the drum 202 continuouslythus decreasing its length and raising a load. The drum 202 has beenmade integral with the winch motor assembly 230 and includes a brake 294which is disengaged by power energizing the motor 230.

In use the arm assembly 60 can be raised and lowered by the flexibledrive member 201 which extends around the pulley 265 before having itsother end secured to the frame 44 by suitable fastening means. The motorassembly 230 is secured to the frame 44 by suitable supports 203 and204.

A suitable motor and gear box is sold by Warner Electric Co. providesthe following:

-   -   90 Volt DC    -   20 to 1 ratio    -   overload clutch slip at 85-90 lbs    -   rating of about 150 RPM @ 75 in. of torque

The brake 294 is provided on the motor gear box assembly 230 within themotor housing.

1. A display rack secured in an upright position for hanging carpets,the rack comprising; at least one upright support member; an armassembly carried by the upright support, the arm assembly including ahorizontal member and a brace; an upper support roller on the horizontalmember bearing on a side of the upright support, a lower support rolleron an end of the brace bearing on a side of the upright support oppositefrom the upper support roller and a winch at the upright support wherebya flexible tension member wound on the winch has a free end secured tothe arm assembly for moving the arm assembly from a lowered position toan upper carpet display position.
 2. A display rack as claimed in claim1 wherein the winch has a worm gear drive having a gear ratio of 50:1and which resists unwinding of the flexible tension member.
 3. A displayrack as claimed in claim 2 wherein one or more of the upright supportsare supported on upper and lower plate members having apertures toreceive pins whereby a pin on an upper end of the upright support isreceived in an aperture in the upper plate, and a pin on the lower endof the upright support is received in an aperture in a lower platemember for pivotally supporting the upright supports.
 4. A display rackas claimed in claim 1 secured in an upright position for hangingcarpets, the rack comprising: upright support members, a motor and awinch on each upright support member; an arm assembly including ahorizontal member having spaced apart plates received on the uprightmember; a diagonal brace on the horizontal member; an upper supportroller on the end of the horizontal member bearing on a side of theupright support; a lower support roller on an end of the brace bearingon a side of the upright support opposite from the upper support roller;and a winch on the support member whereby a flexible tension memberwound on a pulley on the winch has a free end secured to the armassembly for moving the arm assembly from a lowered position to an uppercarpet display position.
 5. A display rack secured in an uprightposition for hanging carpets, the rack comprising: an upright support;an arm assembly including a horizontal member; a diagonal brace on thehorizontal member; an upper support roller on the horizontal memberbearing on a side of the upright support; a lower support roller on anend of the brace bearing on a side of the upright support opposite fromthe upper support roller; and a winch having a toothed drum mounted onthe upright support whereby a toothed flexible tension member wound onthe winch drum extends along the upright support and has a free endsecured to the arm assembly for moving the arm assembly from a loweredposition to an upper carpet display position.
 6. A display rack asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the motor is mounted on the winch and thewinch is mounted on the upright support.
 7. A display rack secured in anupright position for hanging carpets, the rack comprising: an uprightsupport, an arm assembly including a horizontal member; a winch having atoothed drum is mounted at a lower end of the upright support whereby atoothed flexible tension member having its one end secured to the armassembly is wound on the winch drum, extends along the upright support;passes over a pulley on an upper end of the upright support and has oneend secured to the arm assembly for moving the arm assembly from alowered position to an upper carpet display position.
 8. A display rackas claimed in claim 4 wherein the toothed flexible tension membercomprises polyurethane and a braided steel tension member,
 9. A displayrack as claimed in claim 1 wherein the flexible tension member is acable.
 10. A display rack as claimed in claim 1 wherein the winch has agear drive and a brake to control undesired unwinding of the tensionmember.